Sessions, Fitzpatrick apologize

From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Mark MurrayGOP aides say Republican Congressmen Pete Sessions (who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee) and Mike Fitzpatrick sent this letter to colleagues late today to apologize for not being sworn in to the 112th Congress, but later participating in votes. They were sworn in later.

Dear (colleague)As Members of Congress, we have no greater honor than the opportunity to serve our country by representing our constituents in the House of Representatives. The solemn trust we are elected to uphold - codified by our Constitution and sustained through generations of sacrifice - is a privilege we cherish and hold in the utmost regard.

As such, we are deeply committed to fulfilling our role in our constitutional democracy bymaintaining the integrity of the People's House. Our absence on the House floor during the oath of office ceremony for the 112th Congress - while not intentional - fell short of this standard by creating uncertainty regarding our standing in this body.

While we immediately took steps to rectify the situation, we understand that our error allowed the integrity of this great legislative body's proceedings to be called into question. We regret that this incident adversely affected House proceedings and apologize for any individual inconvenience our actions may have caused.